Where did the software on your embedded system come from? Can you prove it? Can you safely update systems in the field? Cryptography provides the tools for verifying the integrity and provenance of software and data. There is a process as to how users can verify the source of software, if it was tampered with in transit, and if it was modified after installation.

The article explores how cryptography, especially hashing and code signing, can be use to establish the source and integrity. It examines how source code control systems and automated build systems are a key part of the software provenance story. (Provenance means “a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality.” It is increasingly being applied to software.)

As an interesting side note, the article describes how the git version control system is very similar to a blockchain.